Twitter has revealed it currently removes one million bots every day in order to keep its platform safe..
Bots, in this context, are malicious, or spam accounts, fake identities (opens in new tab) that leave meaningless comments on people’s tweets, or are used to promote an account, or a website.
In some cases, bots are used to distribute ransomware (opens in new tab), or other forms of malware, as well.
Eliminate bots, or die trying
The news was confirmed by Twitter executives reported by Reuters, and comes as Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaire and Tesla/SpaceX/StarLink/Boring Company CEO demands more transparency as he looks to complete a potential takeover.
Musk has asked Twitter’s executives to share more details on the company’s claim that it keeps the number of automated bots under 5%. Unless it can prove that bots represent less than 5% of the accounts being served ads on the platform, the $44 billion deal might break down, Reuters reminds.
Still, during the conference call with the press, Twitter’s executives said spam accounts represent less than 5% of the company’s user count, a figure that stood more or less the same since 2013.
Twitter analyzes accounts manually, to determine whether or not they have genuine human users, or are run by programs. Then, it uses a combination of public and private data to generate reports for its shareholders and notify them of the number of spam bots on the platform, Twitter explained.
The company also said that due to the nature of data needed in order to perform such analysis, there is no way for an external auditor to analyze the platform. It did not want to say what kind of data it will provide to the potential buyer.
At the same time, Musk said that once he acquires the platform, he will work on defeating the spam bots, “or die trying.”
